Baseball Headline

Thursday February 27, 2014FGCU Edges No. 23 Florida Baseball, 2-1

FGCU
sophomore right-hander Michael Murray (2-0) carried a shutout into the eighth
inning and the Eagles (6-3) plated a pair of unearned runs to down No. 23
Florida (5-4), 2-1, on Thursday night at McKethan Stadium.

Over
7.1 innings, Murray scattered seven hits, registered four strikeouts and
yielded an unearned run before redshirt sophomore Brady Anderson recorded the
final five outs to secure his third save. In his second career start, freshman
righty Logan Shore (Coon Rapids, Minn.) (0-1) posted Gator season-highs
in strikeouts (7) and innings pitched (6.0) but suffered the defeat, as the
hosts committed a season-high four errors.

FGCU
seized a 1-0 lead on a one-out RBI double in the third inning by redshirt
freshman Jake Noll (2-for-4, two RBI). After Shore retired the leadoff batter,
redshirt junior Alex Diaz reached on a fielding error by freshman first baseman
A.J. Puk (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Noll followed with a double to left field
to score Diaz and took third on the relay home. Shore responded with
consecutive strikeouts to strand the runner.

Noll
provided the Eagles with a 2-0 advantage in the fifth with an RBI single. Redshirt
junior Gage Morey opened the frame with a single and went to second on an error
by freshman center fielder Buddy Reed (Finksburg, Md.). Diaz sacrificed Morey
to third base and Noll collected his second RBI of the night with a base-hit to
left field.

In
the eighth, sophomore Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) (2-for-4) legged out
a bunt and junior Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-4) singled
through the right side to cause a pitching change with one down. Anderson replaced
Murray and a passed ball enabled the Gators to have a pair of runners in
scoring position. The reliever struck out junior Taylor Gushue (Boca
Raton, Fla.) and junior Braden Mattson (San Antonio, Texas) cut the
hosts’ deficit in half with an infield single that brought home Martin. With
runners on the corners, Anderson had a fielder’s choice by junior Zack
Powers (Seffner, Fla.) force Mattson at second base for the final out.

Although
freshman Peter Alonso (Tampa, Fla.) opened the ninth with a single, the
Gators were unable to plate the equalizer. Another bright spot for UF was the performance
of sophomore Eric Hanhold (Palm Harbor, Fla.), who struck out three
batters over two innings or scoreless and hitless relief.

Postgame
Quotes

Head
coach Kevin O’Sullivan

On
Logan Shore’s second career start:

“He
threw great; he threw well enough to win. I’m really proud of the way he threw
the ball.”

On
the defensive issues throughout the game:

“You
have to keep the ball in front of you. We had too many errors with balls
underneath the glove, it’s as simple as that.”

On
Florida Gulf Coast’s starter, RHP Michael Murray:

“Their
starter was really good; he kept us off-balance, we had a game plan. We knew he
was going to throw break-up balls early, and fastball counts, especially with
runners in scoring position. We knew that left-handers were going to get
changeups early, and then fastballs with runners in scoring positions; we knew
that. We were unable to make an adjustment.”

Freshman
right-hander Logan Shore

On
his pitching performance tonight (7 strikeouts in 6 innings):

“I
am just trying to build off of my last start and throw strikes against another
aggressive team -- just trying to get ahead. I did my best to try to limit the
damage and get us in the dugout with as few runs as possible. Everyone is
working hard and playing as hard as they can. Errors are going to happen, but
we just have to work on it a little bit more.”

Series
Between Gators & Eagles

·With
the setback, Florida falls to 7-5 all-time vs. FGCU, with a 5-5 clip in
Gainesville. The Gators slipped to 4-1 in games decided by two runs or less vs.
the Eagles.

For
Starters

·Florida
started a season-high five freshmen and a total of six newcomers in tonight’s
lineup.

·Freshman
A.J. Puk made his first collegiate start at 1B.

·Junior
Braden Mattson made his second-career start behind the plate for the
Gators.

·After
starting at catcher the first seven games, junior Taylor Gushue made his
second-consecutive start as the DH for the Orange and Blue.

·Freshman
RHP Logan Shore made his second-career start on the mound, his first
coming vs. UCF on Feb. 18.

From
the Mound

·Shore
recorded a personal-best seven strikeouts, the most by any Gator pitcher this
season, in 6.0 innings, the longest outing by a Gator starter this season.

·Sophomore
right-hander Eric Hanhold made his fifth appearance this season, his
third in three games, relieving Shore to start the seventh. He punched out
three batters in his 2.0-inning stint, matching a season-high.

·Sophomore
RHP Aaron Rhodes made his third appearance on the mound to start the
final frame, followed by freshmen southpaw Kirby Snead and righty Shaun
Anderson.

·The
Gators tallied a season-high 10 K tonight.

Thursday
Notables

·Sophomore
Richie Martin extended his hitting streak to 13-straight games dating
back to last season.

·Going
2-for-4, Martin recorded his fourth multiple-hit game of the season and the
17th of his career.

·Gushue
increased his hitting streak to nine-games with two-out single in the third.

·Junior
Casey Turgeon notched his third multiple-hit game of the season, the
34th of his career.

·Junior
Zack Powers connected with his first multiple-base hit of the season,
knocking a double to right center to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

·Mattson
tallied his seventh RBI, scoring Martin from third on an infield single.
Mattson now has an eight game hitting streak.

Up
Next

There
will be a doubleheader at McKethan Stadium tomorrow, as FGCU faces Illinois at
1 p.m., and the Gators take on the Fighting Illini at 7 p.m. All four games for
UF this weekend can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff
Cardozo and SteveRussell.

Follow
the Gators

Live
stats for each game are available on GatorZone.com
and fans can also receive updates of each game on @GatorZoneBB, the official
Twitter account of the Gator baseball team.